Sidecar

Provided B2B delivery transportation network

Description

Sidecar was a transportation company based in united states (US). It was founded a couple of years after Uber but was never able to catch up with it despite the fact that it had a good product built on solid technology. One of the features Sidecar introduced was that of enabling riders to set their own price. In general, the app of the company offered much more control over their riding experience both for drivers and riders.

Stats

Category

Transportation

Country

United States

Started

In 2011

Closed

By 2015

Number of Founders

Two

Name of Founders

Jahan Khanna, Sunil Paul

Number of Employees

Between 51 And 100

Number of Funding Rounds

5

Total Funding Amount

$45.5M

Number of Investors

21

Precise Cause of Failure

Competition

Business Outcome

Acquired

Cause of Failure

Sidecar had the
top-notch technology but no marketing strategy. Car-hailing services depend on
the traction present in the market and the network of drivers and passengers
that they build. Sidecar could only become useful - and profitable - if there
was always a high density of drivers and users. This is mainly where Sidecar
failed. Unlike their giant competitors (Uber and Lyft) they didn't invest
enough to market their product and gain customers. Uber reportedly lost almost
a million in its first 6 months while it heavily focused on acquiring
customers. Sidecar didn't have the backup funding to do that on a similar
scale.

Also,
instead of focusing on its powerful technology and the empowerment their app
gave to its users, they tried to place themselves as an affordable alternative
to Uber, which didn't really work for them. Weeks after shutting down on
December 2015, though, they were acquired by GM.

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Sidecar was a transportation company based in united states (US). It was founded a couple of years after Uber but was never able to catch up with it despite the fact that it had a good product built on solid technology. One of the features Sidecar introduced was that of enabling riders to set their own price. In general, the app of the company offered much more control over their riding experience both for drivers and riders.

Cause of Failure

Sidecar had the
top-notch technology but no marketing strategy. Car-hailing services depend on
the traction present in the market and the network of drivers and passengers
that they build. Sidecar could only become useful - and profitable - if there
was always a high density of drivers and users. This is mainly where Sidecar
failed. Unlike their giant competitors (Uber and Lyft) they didn't invest
enough to market their product and gain customers. Uber reportedly lost almost
a million in its first 6 months while it heavily focused on acquiring
customers. Sidecar didn't have the backup funding to do that on a similar
scale.

Also,
instead of focusing on its powerful technology and the empowerment their app
gave to its users, they tried to place themselves as an affordable alternative
to Uber, which didn't really work for them. Weeks after shutting down on
December 2015, though, they were acquired by GM.